Chapter 1260: The 24 Rules for Raising a Loyal Dog

Yajiu still felt insecure, speaking softly only with his cheek pressed against the crook of the neck, even though he knew it was improper.

"The organization behind me is Prince Cheng's faction; Prince Cheng colluded with remnants of the former dynasty to plot rebellion. Old Cao… he is the Emperor's secret agent, hidden beside Prince Cheng, spending decades recording every name of the rebel group."

Jin Chen gently patted Yajiu's back, hummed, then asked, "Besides being the organization's top assassin, do you have any other identity?"

Yajiu fell silent again.

He was truly afraid that if his identity were exposed, his master would no longer trust him in the future.

After a long while, Yajiu hoarsely said, "I am… one of the Azure Sky Dark Guard, ordered to deliver the list and secretly assist in monitoring the Heir Apparent."

It is well known that the Azure Sky Dark Guard has served the emperors of all dynasties, obeying only the Emperor's commands.

Jin Chen: "……"

"Wait a moment."

"The problem is a bit serious."

【Oh ho, you have ulterior motives~】

0731's speed of kicking someone when they're down is very fast.

Jin Chen stared blankly for several seconds, recalling from the moment he picked up Yajiu—who, even gravely wounded, refused to let go of his hand—to these days of being inseparable.

More importantly……

"Why does my Imperial Uncle want to monitor me?"

Yajiu's heart was already dead; he could almost foresee being despised and discarded by his master.

He shed silent tears, his voice choking, "The three princes of the capital are all unfit for important duties; the Emperor and Prince Han, born of the same mother, are inseparable in heart."

"If nothing unexpected happens… you will undoubtedly be the crown prince's sole choice."

As Heir Apparent, Jin Chen can be willful and flirtatious, can act recklessly, but if he is to become the future crown prince, he must restrain himself and observe propriety, refraining from improper conduct.

And as the Azure Sky Guard, an imperial dark guard that can both surveil and protect, Prince Xuanqi—knowing Yajiu's identity—felt reassured letting him stay by Jin Chen's side.

But Yajiu never expected that, while on imperial orders to go to Yangzhou, possessing the list would cause the organization to hunt him down.

Jin Chen: "……Hah."

Helpless to the point of laughing.

How did we end up going in circles, and now I have to become emperor!

How could it be off from the original plot by a hundred thousand miles!

His head throbbed badly; he sat up sharply, put some distance between himself and Yajiu, pressed his temples, and continued asking.

"If… the person you met in the deep mountains wasn't this Heir Apparent but someone else, and your severed meridians hadn't recovered, what then?"

Yajiu lowered his head, "Conceal my identity, find a chance to send the list to the manor, repay the favor, then kill myself."

……Well, that also counts as not deviating from the plot.

Jin Chen let out a deep sigh, his tone slightly cold.

"In other words, that I will become the future crown prince—you, my royal father, and my mother all know, while keeping it from me alone."

A flicker of panic crossed Yajiu's eyes; he wanted to explain something but found no way to speak.

"Yes…"

"Clang!"

Jin Chen's cold face smashed the teacup simmering on the brazier; hot steam rose as the porcelain shattered.

Yajiu trembled from fright, then knelt again below, daring not to rise.

0731 held its breath, cautiously, 【Host~ don't be angry~】

Jin Chen pressed his brow, suppressing the anger welling up inside.

"Yajiu, speak plainly."

Jin Chen lowered his gaze to the kneeling youth, seeing his pallid face yet his eyes reddened from crying, and the pity in his eyes welled up again.

"Until now, whose person are you really?"

Yajiu sniffed, red-rimmed eyes lifting, his boyish voice trembling with a sob.

"I am yours."

He knelt upright, without hesitation, wiping his blurred tears with the back of his hand.

"Even if the Emperor wishes to punish me, I am yours and will obey no one else's orders."

"Are you serious?"

Yajiu nodded heavily, "If half of what I say today is false, may I meet a miserable end."

He also swore a poison oath.

Jin Chen helplessly curled his lip, not wanting to think deeply at the moment, "We've reached the manor; go fetch the manor physician."

"Yes."

Yajiu lifted his gaze again toward Jin Chen, very much wanting to ask whether he could continue serving in the future, but he no longer had the courage.

"If… my master could show mercy and let him remain in the manor, even being able to glance at him from afar each day would be good."

Yajiu thought so, yet his heart felt as if cut by a knife.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value 10, accumulated 63!】

Xian Xia Ting.

Jin Chen lay prone on the bedroom bed, hearing 0731 announce the Heartbeat Value, but merely hummed and turned over.

"This little liar, if he doesn't ask today, he still won't know how long he'll have to keep hiding!"

"Besides the handsome old man and his birth mother, who treat him so well, everything rushes to him, yet they also keep it tightly concealed."

"This world is just a grand deception."

Jin Chen buried his head in the blankets, finished complaining about this whole circle of people, and still didn't forget to complain about 0731.

【If you let me be emperor again in the future, I'll punish you by forbidding you from eating anything for your whole life!】

At 07:31, he instantly flew into a rage.

【…Host, you have such a ruthless heart!】

It felt wronged and miserable, 【Remember, remember, from now on I won't offend again!】

The court physician was brought in by Dahu; once inside, please open the cloth bundle and take out the silver needle.

Watching the court physician skillfully give Jin Chen an acupuncture, Dahu anxiously asked from the side, "How long has it been since your old injury acted up? What happened today?"

I just asked Yajiu, but he stammered and only said he encountered an assassin, which has made this subordinate anxiously worried.

Jin Chen turned his head, glanced at a certain hateful little guard squatting outside the bedroom screen, and snorted.

"It's just that I encountered an assassin, nothing else."

"Dahu, from today onward you will return to my side to serve."

"Ah… oh, okay."

Dahu scratched his head, looked doubtfully toward the outside of the room, then glanced at Jin Chen, and suddenly understood.

"You and Yajiu have had a falling out!"

Jin Chen: "……"

He casually grabbed the brocade pouch at the bedside and threw it down.

"Not speaking will kill you, right?"

Dahu hastily shut his mouth.

"It's just that we've had a falling out!"

He withdrew and saw Yajiu kneeling in the courtyard, comforting him: "I've followed the young master since childhood; he's always had a temperamental disposition, quick to anger but also quick to calm, so he might not be angry in a few days."

Dahu extended a finger and said, "Over these years, you've still been the young master's first person he cares about among his attendants."

Yajiu shook his head, his tone filled with despair, "I only wish the master will not drive me away."

He is even more afraid that in the future the master will not even allow him to stay at Idle Summer Bank.

If he is driven away……

Just thinking about it makes Yajiu feel a dull ache in his heart, almost unable to breathe.

It's all his fault; if he had been honest about his identity from the start, even if the master disliked him, he wouldn't have sunk so deep.

But if he were to leave the master now, Yajiu thinks it would be worse than death.

Yajiu stopped sobbing, only shedding silent tears, yet he still knelt with his back straight, a sight that tugs at the heart.

Dahu scratched his head in distress, not knowing what to do.

"Dahu!"

Hearing Jin Chen's voice, Dahu was startled into a jolt and hurriedly ran back.

"Hey, what orders does the young master have?"

Through the window, Jin Chen faintly saw Yajiu kneeling at the door.

He leaned against the headboard and said helplessly, "Let him return to the side courtyard to rest; what's the use of him kneeling in the courtyard?"

"Yes."

Dahu blankly glanced at the open window and tentatively reminded, "Actually, if the young master spoke louder, Yajiu would surely hear it."

Jin Chen then threw another brocade pouch over.

"What are you waiting for? Go do it!"

"By the way, close the window; the Heir Apparent is going to sleep."

Dahu: "……"

He furrowed his brow, ran out of the bedroom again, and voluntarily polished the young master's words.

"Yajiu, the young master says you worked hard fighting the assassin today; hurry back to the side courtyard to rest."

Yajiu slowly rose to his feet, glanced again at the tightly shut doors and windows, and left reluctantly.